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It's Fun to Play the Piano ... Please Pass It On!

Hi everyone:New to this forum. I just started book one a few days ago. Only on page 28. Never played piano before. I have played guitar for years and trained as a classical guitarist. So, music theory is not that much an issue, just learning the layout of the keys and getting my fingers to move !! I have always wanted to play the piano and wanted to do so before I was 50...so that only leaves about 8 months, so I thought it was time to start! Anyway...my question is...are there any other books that would have pop/classical pieces that would be appropriate to the abilities of book one? I would like to practice other pieces while going through the lessons of book one. Has anyone had any luck with the "EZ Piano" books?? I must say I am really enjoying the book and doing much better than I thought! With my travel schedule it is impossible to predict one day in the week where I would be able to take a lesson, so hoping this will at least get me started. Any other helpful tips for a newbie would be welcome!Cheers,EJ.

Hi, EJ, I used the EZ play books for a while when I first got my keyboard, but then I really wanted to learn piano the traditional way with both hands. I borrowed the primer level Bastien book that my grandkids outgrew, and then got the Alfred Adult All-in-one. The EZ-Play Today is more like a preparation for playing with a fake book.

Thanks everyone! I have heard alot of positive comments about Alfred's all time favourites as well as Faber and Faber, so I will check them out. I Also was not too impressed with the EZ series, but wasn't sure what the "current wisdom" was, so it is good to have that as well.

Welcome to the forum, EJ. I like the Dan Coates arrangements; he has a knack for making music easy but still sounding good. (His "Easy Piano" arrangement of Canon in D was one of the first piano pieces I ever learned.) He's got easy piano collections of movie music, classical, pop, etc.